I Swear It's Not A Lie
by Purple Pizza
Summary: Natasha would rather be known for being the one to revive Captain America, rather than being "Iron Man's sister" or Howard Stark's daughter", although she wouldn't mind being known as "Steve Rogers' girlfriend". But just as things start to work out, there's a rising threat within SHIELD, and her old demons resurface. Not everyone can be trusted, and nothing will ever be the same.
1. Prologue

**I Swear It's Not A Lie**

 **Prologue**

* * *

Howard and Maria were out again. It was just Jarvis and Ana. Anthony and Natasha had gone to bed.

And then Peggy arrived around nine ish. Once again she had somehow got in over her head with some Cuban scientists who were trying to develop a superserum variant that could be used to turn crocodiles into assassins. Unfortunately their lab used the test subjects as guards, so Peggy now had a bandage on her leg. Never mind that she was over fifty.

"Oh Jarvis, I can handle it, I'm not retiring yet. Don't be ridiculous."

It was at that moment that little Natasha appeared at the top of the stairs. "I can't sleep," the four year old called down.

Peggy smiled warmly up at her. "Shall I tell you a bedtime story?" The little girl grinned and nodded. Peggy limped up the stairs and grabbed Natasha's hand. "What sort do you want?"

"Can you tell me about Captain America? Daddy says he's awesome and you and him were super in love!"

"Oh, I'm pretty sure he's been telling it wrong," Peggy said smiling. "Come on, I'll tell it to you properly. Is Anthony asleep?" Natasha bit her thumb and shook her head.

That's how Peggy and her friend's two children ended up on Anthony's bed. Peggy began telling the story of how a scrawny, shrimpy little guy became a super hero.

"Well what was the big deal about him? He was nothing special," Tony grumbled.

"Anthony, you missed the point. What he lacked in strength, he made up for in kindness."

Anthony coughed something that sounded a little like _Pansy_.

Natasha glared at her brother and turned back to Peggy. "So now he's super strong, what did he do?"

"Well, he toured the country to persuade men to enlist before heading to the front line."

"That's where all the fighting was," Anthony said, self-importantly.

Peggy smiled. "Yes, and his friend, you remember, Bucky from earlier, had been captured by the bad guys!" She leaned on dramatically.

Natasha gasped in horror, enraptured, eyes as wide as saucers. Anthony pretended to still be sceptical, but still looked more interested.

"I bet he went in and killed them all. That's what I'd do," the little boy said.

Little Natasha frowned. "Killing isn't very nice though. He should go and ask nicely."

"That's a stupid idea, idiot."

Peggy frowned, reproachfully. "Anthony, be nice to your little sister." The boy stuck his tongue out and pouted. Peggy continued the story. "So then, your Daddy and I flew Captain America and into enemy territory so we could drop him at the base where Bucky was being held. It was full of bad guys, and Captain America went in alone. But he saved all the soldiers the bad guys were holding prisoner, including Bucky."

Natasha laughed and clapped. "Yay! Go Captain America!"

Even Anthony looked impressed at that.

"And so Captain America set up his own team to go after the rest of the bad guys, including their leader, The Red Skull."

Anthony scoffed. "That's a lame name for a villain."

"It's better than that Batguy you're obsessed with," Natasha told him.

Anthony scowled at her. "Bat _man_ , idiot. And he's cool!"

"Not as cool as Captain America!" Natasha countered. "At least he exists!"

"I wish Batman existed instead of you."

"Anthony Edward Stark!" Peggy scolded. "Apologise to Natasha right now!" After he reluctantly mumbled an apology, Peggy continued. "So, this team, known as the Howling Commandos, went on many missions and destroyed most of the evil bases. But then, when they captured the evil scientist, disaster struck. Bucky fell from a train off the mountain!"

Natasha gasped. "Did he survive?"

Anthony scoffed. "Of course he didn't! He fell down a mountain!"

"Shut up, he might have! You don't know everything!"

Peggy gave a sad smile. "No. He didn't. Captain America was very sad. But the rest of the Howling Commandos carried on and reached the last base. They attacked and defeated the bad guys except for the Red Skull who was about to escape on his plane, the Valkyrie. So Captain America kissed his best girl," ("Yay!" cheered Natasha.) "and snuck onto the plane, just before it took off. He defeated the Red Skull but the plane was carrying a bomb headed for New York. Captain America had no choice but to force it down into the icy water. The plane was never found."

Natasha sighed. "He was so brave. When I grow up, I'm gonna marry a guy just like him!"

"You can't! He's dead," Anthony pointed out.

"I know that! I'm not stupid."

Peggy smiled, chuckling quietly at their antics. But when Anthony made to swat his sister with his pillow, she had to intervene. "Come on now, it's late. You've had your story; it's time to go to sleep. Come on, Natasha, back to your room." She grabbed the little girl's hand and guided her back to her room and tucked her in.

Just as Peggy was leaving, Natasha called out, "Who were the bad guys?"

"A branch of Nazis called Hydra," Peggy told her.

"Are they all gone now?"

Peggy paused. "Yes," she said eventually. "They're all gone now."

"Okay," the girl said sleepily. "Night night. I hope you catch the crocodiles."

Peggy smiled softly as she turned out the light.

* * *

 **After watching Civil War I decided to unearth my draft of a fanfic from last summer. Most of it was not usable due to bad writing, canon, and other reasons. I have revised the plot and voila! Story!**

 **A lot of you probably know this but in comic canon, Tony Stark was a girl called Natasha in an alternate universe. So I decided to use that name for Tony's sister in my fanfic.** **To avoid confusion with the Black Widow, Natasha Stark will be referred to as Dr Stark or Ash, and Natasha Romanoff will be referred to as Nat or Romanoff.**

 **This story will start just before the Avengers movie but will focus most on the Winter Soldier movie and all the Hydra goings on. I'm kind of ignoring Agents of SHIELD tv show because I just think it will complicate things.**

 **I don't have an updating schedule but I'm hoping that I will manage to not abandon this? I have a very good idea where this is going and already have the first three chapters written.**

 **I accidentally posted the original prologue but I completely changed it because I wasn't happy with it and thought this one would be better.**

 **I hope to post chapter 1 later today, but it will definitely be before Wednesday.**


	2. Chapter 1

**I Swear It's Not A Lie**

 **Chapter One**

* * *

66 years. Technically he should have been dead. Yet here he was, with a pulse. A goddamned pulse. This guy had been believed to be dead since the 40's, yet appeared now, alive. It was enough to boggle the mind of anyone, Dr Stark included. This was the man her father had idolised. She had grown up on legends of his bravery, stories that had led her brother to resent him but had made her a huge fan. And now she was the one to oversee his revival. _You proud yet, Daddy?_ Of course there was no guarantee his brain had survived, she could revive him only to find him a vegetable. Wouldn't that be a disappointment to the world? Although it was more than what Howard Stark had achieved. She had done what her esteemed father had once almost lost his life attempting. And now here she was, in a tent in the ice, defrosting a miracle. She deserved a pay rise.

She let go of his cool wrist and took in the soldier. His body was longer than she had expected. He must tower over people, far from the scrap of a man Peggy had described when recounting their meeting. Like many before her, Stark was anxious to test his blood to find out what exactly had been done to him. And his face was just as handsome as described; it was easy to see how Peggy had fallen in love with him.

Coulson appeared by her side. The man was trying to retain his cool demeanour, but Stark noted his flush. He was probably even more excited than her. As soon as word had gotten out who had been discovered, he had been there like a flash.

"How-" the senior agent's voice croaked slightly before he cleared his throat. "How is the procedure going?"

"So far, no complications." She said with a confident grin. "Has my brother got himself into any situations since we last spoke? No more debacles like the Expo?"

"Hmm, so far I've heard nothing. Although this is Tony Stark were talking about so who knows? I'm sure you've heard about New Mexico?" Stark nodded affirmative. "Well I thought that was one of his at first."

Stark snorted. "Yeah that's not quite his style. I trust you delivered my message?" She enquired

Coulson nodded, moving to pick up the shield that had been removed from the supersoldier, holding up it in reverence. "Yeah, he claims that he's had enough brushes with death for one lifetime. Not that it'll prevent him from being reckless."

She hummed in agreement. "I don't get why you had to get Romanoff in to tell you that. I told you that as soon as you suggested it. Iron Man should not be an Avenger so long as Tony is flying the suit."

"I'm sure he'd appreciate hearing that from you."

"Tony knows it's true, no matter how much he denies it. He should never have been told about the Initiative," she said with a tone of finality. "Anyway what even went down out there? Some mythological guy fell out of space and his pet robot smashed a town? I don't get the best reports out in the middle of the Arctic, you know," she chuckled.

"Turns out the Norse gods are actually an alien species." At Stark's incredulous expression, Coulson laughed. "Yeah, I know right? Thor is an Asgardian. He was exiled by his father, Odin, and it was his brother, Loki, who sent the robot. I'm not entirely sure what happened myself, only that I watched a grown man close to tears because he couldn't pick up a hammer."

Stark laughed. "You know what?" She turned to one of the other doctors in the room. "Percy, you're in charge, I'm taking my break. Call me if anything changes," she called before turning back to Coulson. "It sounds like quite a story. Come on; let's grab a cup of coffee." Coulson tried to hide the disappointment at having to leave, causing her to laugh again. "Come on, he hasn't gone far in 60 years, I'm pretty sure he'll be here when you come back. But tell me you don't think it's crazy. My brother becomes a superhero, a god lands on earth, and then we dig up a frozen legend. What are the chances? And not forgetting a giant green gamma monster," Stark grinned, opening the lab door for the senior agent. "And I work for an agency that _specialises_ in weird. I mean, can it get crazier?"

* * *

The woman sat at the gate, preparing for her flight home, when her phone chirped. It was a message from her boss.

 _The Captain is being awakened. If all goes well we could use him. Gain his trust. Don't let me down again. You know the consequences. HH_

She bit her lip, trying to push back the memories of what they had done. Her daughter was supposed to have been safe, but apparently that promise had been conditional. She sighed and typed back.

 _You can count on me. HH_


End file.
